In US trade, the euro defied logic to actually move higher against the USD, despite ongoing uncertainty over Greece’s ability to negotiate a debt deal with its bond holders and ensure the next tranche of its bailout funding is forthcoming from the troika. To the frustration of the financial markets, Greece continues to redefine the meaning of the word ’imminent‘, having repeatedly failed to meet verbalised timeframes for negotiating a deal on principal haircuts and coupon restructurings with its creditors. This issue has now become a bit of a joke, with the credibility of European leaders continuing to decline from an already low base. That the market was willing to look beyond these concerns and is still taking comfort from Friday’s stronger-than-expected non-farm payrolls numbers is a further sign that the global economy is starting to believe more in the upside from a US recovery compared to the downside from continued problems in Europe. Having ended yesterday’s Australian session around the 1.3085 mark, the euro edged higher over the course of US trade to eventually settle at 1.3130. Upon reopening for Asian trade, the euro is little changed, currently in the mid-1.3120 zone. Cameron Peacock, Australia